February 5, 2026

When I think of “press the button,” I think of dramatic, irreversible choices. But the button I’m thinking about today is seemingly small: the send button on a text message—written in advance, hovering on my screen—while I watch a dog on Zoom who is home alone.

There’s a moment in almost every alone-time reassessment when my heart goes still and I have to decide: do we keep going, or do we stop? My text is already written. I can end the alone time session at any moment by pressing Send. And the outcome of that decision affects everyone involved.